I recently did a photo shoot for the most amazing non-profit organization called Schoolyard Farms. While I was there they showed me all of the good green growth that was happening on the one-acre schoolyard farm; it was all incredibly beautiful and inspiring, but what made my heart pitter patter the most were the rows and rows of fava bean plants. Favas are one of my favorite vegetables and because of their short growing season I always make sure to stock up on them when I see them in the market. Seeing them come in at the farm that morning made me realize—it’s finally arrived…fava season is here! Woo hoo!

So, of course, favas were high on my list when I went to the farmers market this weekend. I spotted them almost immediately after walking into the market; their long, green pods practically overflowing from their wooden bins.

I was there with my good friend Lindsay and she laughed as I would take a handful, place it in my bag, and walk to the counter to pay for my goodies. Then I’d look down at the bag and declare that this couldn’t possibly be enough favas. I’d go back and add more beans to the bag and then get back in the check out line. I think I did that three or four times before she finally cut me off, saying that we most definitely had enough for the four people we would be feeding with them. She was right. We had more than enough. (Thanks for cutting me off, Linz! I’d probably be buried under a pile of fava beans right now if it weren’t for you.)

I usually take the more laborious double-peel route of cooking favas, steaming them in their pods, peeling, and then re-steaming again in the shells before de-shelling. But since I’ve been insanely busy lately (read: I don’t have enough patience for this method at the moment), I decided to roast the favas whole today.

The pods are first coated in a garlicky oil and butter mixture. I made mine using purple garlic, mostly because the color was too gorgeous to resist buying at my local co-op. But white garlic works just as well! They’re then roasted in the oven until slightly charred on the outside and cooked through on the inside. You could also do this on a grill for a BBQ, just make sure the heat gets high enough to cook through. When finished, sprinkle with a good course sea salt and enjoy sucking the beans straight out of their pods (no need to peel the shell) and savoring the sweet garlicky goodness that encases them. Sure, it gets a little messy, but who doesn’t love a good mess while they’re eating? That’s half the fun!

Garlicky Roasted Fava Beans

Ingredients:

2 pounds of fava beans still in their pods

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons of butter

4-5 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped roughly (I used purple garlic here, but you can use any kind)

salt, to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Heat a large skillet, ideally a cast iron one, over medium heat on your stovetop. Add oil and butter to the skillet. Once hot (but not so hot that its smoking), add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Do not let the garlic burn; if it begins to, remove the skillet from the heat until it cools down.

Add fava beans (the whole pod, do not decase them) to the skillet and toss to coat with the garlic butter mixture.

Roast in the oven for 17-22 minutes, or until you notice the pods beginning to get a golden brown color on the top.

These have me so stinkin’ smitten. I have a sack of favas in my fridge that keep pestering me to be shelled and re-shelled. Homie ain’t got time for that! I love that you’re advocating for whole-pod roasting as it’s infinitely more convenient — and finger lickin’ ANYTHING is a good time, in my book. Off to preheat the oven I go!

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My Food Philosophy & Inspiration:

The food I feature on C+M is is made entirely from scratch and relies on local and seasonal ingredients; but it is not necessarily intended to be dietetic. So if you're looking for that hot, new kale recipe, cover your eyes and calmly hit the back button. This is food that is rich and decadent, made for times of indulgence. This is food for celebrating.

My specific cooking inspiration comes from many different places, but much of it stems from growing up in New Orleans, where my Cajun grandmother would fix me creamy grits for breakfast and fried catfish for dinner. Where I'd catch fresh crabs with my momma and fight with my sister over who got to slurp down the tomalle on a slice of crispy french bread. I'm also regularly inspired by my current life in Portland, Oregon, where I am spoiled daily by the culinary creations of some of the world's most inventive chefs and the unrivaled bounty of the PNW. I hope the recipes I feature on C+M will inspire you, too, to celebrate the richness of life through food.

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The Quote that Inspired the Blog

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately. To front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach. And not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. To live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life. To cut a broad swath and shave close. To drive life into a corner and reduce it to its lowest terms. And, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion."